The boy was too scared to ask for permission to use the loo in the middle of the class.

In a shocking incident that has brought disgrace to the teaching community, a woman teacher of an Andhra school allegedly forced a seven-year-old student to drink urine as punishment .

The boy's fault was that he had passed urine in the classroom inadvertently.

The incident took place on Wenesday at the Satyabhama English Medium School, a corporate school which is part of the Satyabhama group of institutions in Anaparthi town, about 35 km from Kakinada city. The teacher's actions came to light when the parents of the student, along with their relatives and local residents, staged a demonstration in front of the school on Thursday.

It is reminiscent of a similar incident that took place at the prestigious Vishwa Bharati school founded by Rabindra Nath Tagore in West Bengal in July this year, when 10-year-old Punita Mistri was forced to drink her own urine by her hostel warden Uma Poddar, as a punishment for bed-wetting.

According to the Anaparthi police, seven-year-old Karri Anjaneya Reddy, a class 1 student, wanted to go to the toilet urgently but would not dare ask permission from class teacher Gowri. When he could not control the bladder, he inadvertently passed urine in the class.

The agitated class teacher shouted at him and forced him to pass urine again in a plastic bottle after some time and forced him to drink it as a punishment. The boy informed his parents after he went home.

On Thursday morning the boy's father K Ananta Satyanarayana Reddy, who runs a small shop in the town, went to the school along with his relatives and neighbours and lodged a complaint with school principal Satyanarayana, demanding action against the teacher.

The principal tried to defend Gowri saying she was a very good teacher and would not resort to such cruel acts. The situation, however, turned tense when the agitated crowd tried to attack the school as the principal told them that the teacher was on leave.

Later, the parents and relatives lodged a complaint with the Anaparthi police. "We have just received the complaint and we will investigate the matter," Anaparthi sub-inspector of police Krishna told Mail Today.

The issue was also brought to the notice of Anaparthi block education officer Somi Reddy, who said he would take it up with higher authorities and recommend stringent action against the teacher.

Sources, however, said the police were trying to bring about compromise between the parents and school management so that the former withdraw their complaint.